PC market gets a lift in Latin America

The Latin American PC market turned 2001's trend on its ear by growing nearly 8 percent.

Spurred by strong growth in Brazil and Mexico, two of the largest national markets, the overall PC market in Latin America grew to 7.4 million units, a 7.6 percent increase from 2000, according to Gartner.

Even as shipments to the region grew, the overall worldwide PC market declined by about 5 percent in 2001 because of slower sales and ailing worldwide economies.

Brazil, the single-largest PC market in Latin America, saw shipments of 3.3 million units, up 18 percent from 2000. It was followed by Mexico, where shipments totaled 1.85 million units, up 2 percent. Gartner's Andean region, including Colombia, Peru and Venezuela, consumed 728,000 units, up 22 percent.

Although unit shipments to the region increased during 2001, revenue fell 3.2 percent to $7.35 billion. Notebook PC shipments declined by 1.7 percent.

Compaq Computer remained the No. 1 seller in Latin America in 2001. But its shipments declined by 2.2 percent to just under 1.3 million units, opening the door somewhat for Dell Computer and several local computer makers, such as Alaska.

Dell posted the greatest growth of the top five PC makers, increasing its shipments by 36.6 percent to nearly 310,000 units for the year. Alaska shipped about 235,000 units.